DOCUMENTARY RELEASES ON DVD FOR JULY 2013

THE ELSTREE STORY (12) 1952 £9.99
Actor Richard Todd presents this documentary on the iconic Elstree
Studios, where many classic English films were made between 1927 and the
programme’s recording in the 1950s. As well as relating the history of
the studios, situated near the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in
Hertfordshire, the documentary features footage from over 40 films made
there, including the first feature film produced in the studios, ‘The
White Sheik’ (1927), and Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Blackmail’ (1929).

MANET – PORTRAYING LIFE(E) 2013 GRABSKY, P/HARDING, B £19.99
Phil Grabsky and Ben Harding direct this documentary exploring the life
and work of the French artist Edouard Manet. The film is centred around
an exhibition of the painter’s work held at the Royal Academy in London
called ‘Manet – Portraying Life’. With art historian Tim Marlow as a
guide, the viewer is taken on a journey around the exhibition, with
insight offered on the meaning of the paintings and the biographical
circumstances from which they arose.

FIRST WORLD WAR: THE COMPLETE SERIES (E) £19.99
The complete series of the critically-acclaimed Channel 4 documentary on
the First World War. Many lesser known battles, campaigns and actions
are looked at as well as the well-known campaigns. Previously unseen
archive materials from sources in Central and Eastern Europe are
featured and studies of key participants, weaponry, diary entries and
letters written by soldiers make this series truly comprehensive.

MUSSOLINI – THE HISTORY OF ITALIAN FASCISM (E) 2008 £19.99
Documentary charting the rise of fascism, its effect on Italian life,
the outbreak of war and the eventual demise of Benito Mussolini.
Chapters include: ‘Mussolini, the man and the politician and his rise to
power’, ‘The Matteotti affair and the birth of the Totalitarian state’,
‘Fascist policy at home and abroad’, ‘The Vatican agreement and initial
contact with Hitler’, ‘The opponents and the intellectuals of the
regime’, ‘Modernisation in Italy and the new African colonies’, ‘The
Italians in the 1930s and fascist support’ and ‘Defeat, Civil War and
the death of the Duce’.

TWENTY FIVE YEARS(E) 1977 MORLEY, PETER £9.99
Documentary commissioned in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver
Jubilee in 1977. The film looked back at the Queen’s time as monarch
following her coronation in 1953, making use of archive footage,
including a royal visit to Canada and the US in 1976, to recall the
highs and lows of a quarter of a century which saw many social,
political and technological changes.

THE SHARD: THE TALLEST TOWER (E) 2013 £14.99
Film looks at the construction of London’s tallest building, the Shard.
The dream of property developer Irvine Sellar and architect Renzo Piano,
the Shard dominates the London skyline and is also the tallest building
in Western Europe. The documentary traces the four year process from
the conception of the building to its completion.